Smile
by DarkVisions19
Summary: Trying to save her crumbling marriage, Hermione confides in the one person she knows will keep her secrets despite being a major part of her problems. How will her husband react when he hears her spilling her problems? Rated T for adult issues, nothing inappropriate. o/s


**A/N: **Hello all! So, if you've read my other o/s you'll know that I include sadness... especially when it comes to the twins. It's just way too darn easy after how J.K Rowling wrote The Deathly Hallows Anyway, enjoy! I'm not really sure if it's a tissue warning... it depends on how emotionally stable you are? OH! If you haven't read my other Harry Potter o/s... you should.

* * *

Sitting alone by the window all night was not my brightest idea. Left with my thoughts, I spent my time in the dark contemplating what I could have done to change the outcome of our bittersweet story. Usually I had a partner in my nightly silence and it was harder for the demons to surface, but he hadn't been inside since late afternoon. It didn't do any good when I tried to force him inside; it would just lead to pointless fighting. Instead, I sat outside as he swooped and dived in the air at breakneck speeds. When it got late, I would go inside and watch him from the window I currently occupied. When the nightly vigils first become routine, I would stay outside until he got tired of being out there. Lately, he didn't want me out with him at all. He would send me inside once it got too late or too cold. He was protective. He didn't want to lose anyone else. Three years since The Final Battle and he still carried the worst of the scars, the ones that haunted, both mentally and physically.

I sighed and made my way to the guest bedroom, giving up the tiny shred of hope I had that he would be coming in anytime soon. I sat down in the chair next to the bed silently, needing a minute to gather my thoughts. I took a deep breath before I started to speak to the figure sleeping on the bed.

"So, I know it's rather late for me to be talking to you but this was the first chance I had today to fill you in. The shop is doing fantastically well. Seriously, you would be so proud of how many children are being corrupted on a daily basis."

I smiled sadly down at the man who looked so peaceful, just imagining how thrilled he would be to witness first hand how successful WWW's comeback was.

"There's something else I want to tell you. Something so big I haven't even told your brother. You're going to be an uncle. Isn't that something? Hermione Granger, resident bookworm and know-it-all swot, is going to be a mother! I'm not quite sure how he's going to react to the news. I've only known for about a week but it's killing me inside to not tell him."

I laughed humorlessly, a stray tear making its way down my cheek. "I was deliriously happy when the healer told me the news. Then I thought of your brother, how miserable he is, and I didn't want to be happy about it anymore. Can you imagine? Things are tense to the point where I don't want to be happy about my baby. _Our _baby. I'm only telling you this because I needed to tell someone and well… at the moment you're the best secret keeper around."

"My God Fred," I sobbed out, "It's been three bloody years since that damn war! I need you to wake up. I'm losing him, Freddy, with every day that you're in this coma. I'm so afraid I'll be raising this baby alone because my _husband _is so distraught! I can't shake the feeling he'll be overwhelmed by the sight of the baby who, let's face it, will look just like the two of you. This child needs a father. This child needs an _uncle_, the best uncle the world can offer him or her and that's not going to happen unless you're around. This child will never experience the trademarked Fred Weasley smile if you don't come back to us!"

By this point, I'm clutching his hand tightly and letting out all of the frustrations and pain that built up inside as hot tears coursed down my face in rivulets.

"Please wake up Fred." I whispered brokenly, "We need you. I don't know how much longer we can survive without you."

I heard a noise from the doorway and whirled around. There was George, looking equal parts distressed and angry. His jaw clenched tightly with a barely suppressed anger and his eyes shone with the pain I had seen for the past three years.

"George!" I squeaked out, trying to wipe the evidence of crying off my face. "How long have you been standing there?"

"A while." He stared at me for a second then turned to walk away.

"Please, George, wait!"

He faced me, his features livid, his posture stiff.

"Wait for what, Hermione? Wait to hear how miserable you think I am? How our marriage is crumbling to bits around us? How you think _so lowly_ of me as to assume I would be anything but ecstatic about out baby? That I would abandon you?"

"I'm sorry." I whispered, not having the will to fight back, especially when he was right. I was tired of fighting. We were always fighting.

He slumped forward, hunching in on himself. His hands ran across his face and into his hair, like he always did when he was trying to say something difficult.

"I love you. At least tell me you're sure of that."

"Of course I am. I never doubted that,"

"Then why…"

"You're unpredictable. Sometimes you leave for hours on end and I never know when you're going to come home. I don't want something I say or do to have to you leave me permanently. I wouldn't be able to handle you leaving, not now or ever, so might as well keep things in and hope for the best."

"You should tell me these things. I'm your husband."

"And risk a fight? We always fight, George! I'm done fighting."

"It sounds like you're giving up on me."

"Not on you. Never on you. On our situation, maybe. We'll live half a life."

"What can I do to make this better? I want to change this! I don't want to live a half-life. Not when I have the opportunity to live a full life with you and our baby."

"This won't change overnight. In fact, I don't know if it will change at all. It's late. I'm going to head up to bed now."

"Hermione? I will fix this."

"I hope so." I walked up to him and gave him a kiss, smiling softly. He meant well, he always meant well. But it was a hard task to fix something quickly on its way to becoming broken.

"I love you."

"I love you too George."

* * *

I woke up to the sounds of George rustling. I kept my eyes closed, not wanting to face him after all that we had discussed last night. The room stayed silent for a few minutes before I heard George take a deep breath.

"Hi Munchkin, I'm George. I mean... I'm your daddy. Sorry, that's still a bit strange." He chuckled under his breath, probably feeling silly over what he was doing. "Anyway, I'm sorry you had to listen to mummy and me fight yesterday. Sometimes daddy is silly and messes things up. I'm working on that though. I promise. I don't think your mum believed me when I said I was going to fix things and change how I was acting. That's all right. I'm hoping to convince her soon enough."

I wanted to open my eyes, show him that I believed in him and what he was promising. For the first time in a while, I had hope for a better future for us. I also wanted to hear the end of his ramblings so I stayed still and waited for him to finish.

"You and your mum are the most important parts of me and I would do anything to keep the two of you safe and happy." He placed a gentle kiss on my stomach. "I'm glad we had this talk, buddy… even though you have absolutely no idea what's happening. On the plus side, at least mummy knows what's going on. She's quite the wriggler when she's asleep and right now she's much to still."

I fought to keep a smile off my face as I opened my eyes slowly, pretending to have just woken up.

"Good morning! How long have you been awake?"

He just looked at me with a huge grin on his face, amusement radiating from his body.

"Oh, fine!" I threw my hands up, "I heard everything. Happy?"

"Extremely." He placed a kiss on my nose and let his forehead rest against mine. "Now you know I meant what I said."

"I definitely know. You've already started. You talking to the baby a few minutes ago was perfect. You held an entire conversation with a child who definitely doesn't understand you, knowing full well that I was listening in. You opened up to me, even if it was under a pretense, and there's nothing else I could ask for."

"You're amazing, did you know that?"

I smiled and leaned into his embrace, content with feeling closer to him than I had in months. We were going to make it.

"Okay!" he hastily got up and began getting dressed. "I'm taking you out for breakfast! Hop to it, woman!"

I rolled my eyes and smiled, making my way to the bathroom.

"Hermione!" George bellowed frantically.

I raced out of the bathroom and made my way to the other side of the house where I thought I had heard George shout.

"Hermione!"

Racing into Fred's room, I stopped short at the sight of a tearful George gripping Fred's hand tightly. Refusing to think the worst, I slowly made my way deeper into the room. As soon as I was close enough to see what was going on, I burst into tears. I clutched George's other hand with a all I had, hoping I wouldn't collapse right there in front of George. My other hand was resting protectively over my stomach.

"Munchkin," I whispered, "Meet your Uncle Fred. The best uncle the world could ever give you."

I smiled sadly down at the man who looked so peaceful. After three years of waiting, he finally smiled back.


End file.
